Date: Thu, 23 Oct 1997 11:06:59 +0100 From: Damian Hamill <damian@cablenet.net> To: "N. Del More" <ndelmore@usa.net> Cc: freebsd-isp@freebsd.org Subject: Re: Router Cards? Message-ID: <344F21C2.6EEA4806@cablenet.net> References: <3.0.1.32.19971021182012.0098ad50@bailin.lan>
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N. Del More wrote: > > Does any one have any experience or knowledge about the Emerging > Technologies ET/5025x or the SDL Communications WANic or RISCom boards > insofar as their suitabilty as a router is concerned? > > Both companies basically claim that you pop it in either your server or a > spare system and through the wonders of software and technology ... bingo > ... instant router. > > Seems like a VERY attractive alternative to a VERY expensive Cisco on the > surface especially for a startup like me. > > Thanks > Noel I use both and have done for 2 years or more. I believe their claims are correct (although I wouldn't say it is instant). I am very happy with these products and installation is fairly easy. There is another issue that as yet I haven't seen discussed regarding PC Unix routers versus dedicated routers. Recently a large number of Internet routers went belly up as a major ISP loaded a large number of new routes into the routing tables. This caused these dedicated routers to run out of memory and reboot, creating a lot of instability and route flapping. Considering the (virtual) nature of PC Unix memory I do not know if any PC Unix routers suffered the same fate. As I understand the main selling point of dedicated router products like cisco is reliability, in that their are no moving parts to wear out (other than the cooling fan). However beyond a simple configuration and when lots of memory is needed they become VERY expensive. If in fact they are not as reliable as PC Unix routers in the face of this kind of event then the whole point of buying them becomes redundant, given the fact that you can expect years of reliability out of PCs. regards damian -- * Damian Hamill M.D. damian@cablenet.net * CableNet & The Landscape Channel * http://www.cablenet.net/ http://www.landscapetv.com/
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